Is pre team worth it?

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Hi ladies,
It's been awhile since I've posted. My DD just turned 5 years old at the end of Decemeber and she's been moved up to the tiny beginers class for gymnastics. This class is for 5-7 year olds. She did a trial class on Sat. and did great. I was inquiring about what age the girls can try out for actual team and was told there were try outs for pre team and team at the end of this month. I know DD isn't ready for team yet, she still has a lot of skills to learn so it will probably be sometime. My question is about pre team and if the extra money is worth it. Right now she has one 55 minute class a week and that cost $72.00 a month. Prices have not yet been posted for pre team just yet but last year it was $140.00 a month for two one and a half hour session. I'm guessing it will be around the same price this year. My DD loves gymnastics so I don't think the extra time would be a burden on her, I'm more worried about the time and cost involved on myself. I've talked to quit a few coaches about what is expected out of pre team and they said they don't require certain skills because all of this would be taught at the practices. The one male coach basically said he's only had to turn one child away for pre team because they just wouldn't listen. DD is pretty good about listening and following directions but she is only 5 and still sometimes has that antsy side to her. I think by her being around older girls this would really help with that, as she likes to follow suit. I know the more practices she goes to the more she will learn, so DH and I am willing to let her do pre team if she makes it. I'm just wondering about some other people's experiences with pre team. Did your DD enjoy it or find it to be to much? Did you think it was worth the extra time and money spent? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
Preteam is great for getting them ready to compete but Holy Cow $140.00 a month for 3 hours a week of preteam? That seems like alot. But I do think prices in the midwest are a little bit more reasonable. It was $140.00 a month at my DD's gym (Missouri) for Level 4 training 6 hours a week and $155.00 for 9 hours.
 
To answer your first question "is preteam worth it?" -

IMO, if your DD may one day compete on a team, then pre-team is worth it. Gymnastics was not introduced to my DD until the age of 6. I definitely see that she is "catching up" or somewhat behind in terms of skill, form and strength compared with those her age in her level. I predict that she will be repeating levels 5 or 6 at some point because she seems to lack the kind of strength that others developed earlier on.

As far as hours, it depends on your DD. When my DD started gymnastics, she was also doing soccer and dance. So when she was invited to do more hours, I knew it wouldn't be a problem for her - we just ditched the other activities. My DD2 is almost 5, and can't handle an hour of rec gymnastics. It makes her "too tired" (she says.) She just wants to play at home, or at the park. Perhaps she will grow out of it, but I don't see the same passion for organized activity as DD had.

And cost - just be prepared for the costs to go up as your DD gets better at gymnastics :)
 
You have to decide but I would say yes

We are in the midwest and the original poster's cost is right in line with what you pay here. In my opinion it's totally worth it. At our gym preteam is a lot of conditioning. If girls don't get handpicked for preteam based on body type or because the parent knows one of those coaches, then it's an uphill battle to make Level 4 in two years since the same folks who teach the pre team have a huge say in who makes it onto Level 4 (first level of team, though they may not compete in level 4 for up to 2 years). IMO probably there is too much power given to these two or three particular coaches at daughter's gym and their crystal ball or "picker" seems to be far short of perfect at our particular gym. The favoritism is there though, so if you have any whiff that team may be in your daughter's future, I'd say have her give preteam a whirl and see if she thrives there. The extra cost, at least at our gym, is totally worth it because the coaches are more experienced and lots of attention is given to conditioning and proper form.
 
At those prices NONONO!! $72 for basically four hours of gym.

Pre team is wonderful, it's fun, it's entertaining. But there is no way that those prices make sense to me. I could see up to $10 an hour, but really no more than that.

For team we pay about $5 an hour.
 
She is CURRENTLY paying $72 dollars for one hour per week, or four hours per month. She is asking if it is worth it to pay $140 for 3 hours per week, or 12 hours per month. Obviously you are getting much more time for your dollar in the preteam program. And both of these price points are pretty standard where I am, too (about $15 to $18 per hour for rec, about $8 to $12 dollars per hour for team)
 
She is CURRENTLY paying $72 dollars for one hour per week, or four hours per month. She is asking if it is worth it to pay $140 for 3 hours per week, or 12 hours per month. Obviously you are getting much more time for your dollar in the preteam program. And both of these price points are pretty standard where I am, too (about $15 to $18 per hour for rec, about $8 to $12 dollars per hour for team)


I know what she is asking, it is written there for all to see. I am just saying those prices are crazy. That's all, is it okay to give an opinion?
 
That's how much pre-team cost at our gym, 3 hrs a week for $150 a month.

I think it really depends on whether you think she wants to compete some day. If she has interest in that, then yes it is worth it. If she doesn't, there isn't a need to spend the extra money or time.
 
At those prices NONONO!! $72 for basically four hours of gym.

Pre team is wonderful, it's fun, it's entertaining. But there is no way that those prices make sense to me. I could see up to $10 an hour, but really no more than that.

For team we pay about $5 an hour.

Pre-team at the gym my daughter used to go to was about the same price for 3hrs/week and I think other gyms are the same in this area. That's not unheard of around here. Level 4 at the old gym jumped to 7hrs/week and was $350/month including all leo and meet fees. $$$$$$ We're at a YMCA now and are paying a fraction of the cost for better instruction. I'm sure that's not the case everywhere but I'm glad we made the switch.

In any case, responding to the OP's question, if you think your daughter will someday want to do team, then definitely let her try pre-team...just remember that the price will go up as your daughter progresses.
 
Yes, kids get taught the hard stuff in pre-team not just the fun stuff (stretching to splits, conditioning, form). If you're not in the stream you're probably not going to get on team.
 
Sorry, I totally disagree with all who feel that pre-team is the way to go. It's not the money or even the time the gymnast spends, it's the fact that she JUST TURNED 5. Come on people, are you really trying to say that a kid who has the drive and ability is going to be behind if they don't join a pre-team program at 5? My DD started in a gym CLASS at age 6. Back then there was no pre-team concept (and if there was, I was oblivious to it all). She didn't start competing until level 5 at age 7 (nothing below level 5 was being competed back then in our area). She's now a level 10, having gone through the levels at a normal pace - never skipped a level. And in her first few years of "real" gym when she was on team, she did soccer too.
 
Well based on all these posts I can only conclude that "pre team" is a huge money maker, not the case where we are at all.

Lots and lots of girls never do pre team, or step in the gym until they are school age. Lots of kids do pre team for years and never get to team, we hear from them often here.

If you can afford it, if she loves it, then by all means do it, but don't feel that she will not succeed if she doesn't do pre team.
 
In many gyms there is only one way to get on team and that is through pre-team. So whether it is "worth it" or not depends on your gym and what you want for your daughter. If you see a level 4 or 5 of just 6 and 7 yr olds who have all gone through pre-team then that's what you will have to do to get on team at that gym. If you see an level 4 or whatever level your gym starts at with a mixture of ages and body types then it's possible they take kids on team that have not gone through pre-team.

As far as pre-team being a money maker, nothing makes money like a 1 hr class. 1 hr school age classes have the highest per hour income for gyms, high student teacher ratio, high per hour fee, teachers typically with less experience and training = $$ Hopefully pre-teams do make money for gyms bc once the kids get to team we are lucky if we are just covering the coaches, forget about the overhead.
 
In my opinion, this is rude.


I was answering a very pointed post at the time, I do not feel I was being rude, just making it clear that I do have the right to give an opinion. The member I was replying to didn't seem to see that I understood the situation, when it was clear to me.

If you seriously feel that I was rude, then feel free to report my post. The admin and other mods can deal with it.
 
Sorry, I totally disagree with all who feel that pre-team is the way to go. It's not the money or even the time the gymnast spends, it's the fact that she JUST TURNED 5. Come on people, are you really trying to say that a kid who has the drive and ability is going to be behind if they don't join a pre-team program at 5? My DD started in a gym CLASS at age 6. Back then there was no pre-team concept (and if there was, I was oblivious to it all). She didn't start competing until level 5 at age 7 (nothing below level 5 was being competed back then in our area). She's now a level 10, having gone through the levels at a normal pace - never skipped a level. And in her first few years of "real" gym when she was on team, she did soccer too.

I think you have to look at it on a per child basis. I put my daughter in gymnastics when she was 3 1/2 because she needed an output for her energy and ballet wasn't cutting it. She took to it and loved it. By the time she was close to 5 she was only doing a 50 minute class once a week but asked every day if she could go to gymnastics. Someone at the gym told me about pre-team, I inquired, she tried it out and started going 3 hours/week a month before she turned 5 and LOVED it. She probably could have stayed another hour each day and would have been fine (not that I would have let her at that age at all) because she just has so much energy, and she loves it.

So all that said, I think it depends on the child. Some children, even at 5 years old, want more. If they show that they love it and want more, and the parents are willing to pay, why not? ...because it actually is more cost-effective. It's not always a matter of worrying about whether they'll get behind if they don't do it at such a young age...sometimes the kid just wants more than the 1 hour rec class.
 
Prices are different in the states than canada but even vary a lot here in the states. However, I want to say that in Marin or Norcal, 140/month gets you about 5-6 training hours/week. It's around 200/month for 9.
 
I guess prices are high in our state (though we are in Midwest not one of the coasts)

4 hours a week prep op team here is around $175 per month.
7 hours a week is around $265

Regular team is comparable in terms of what you pay for number of hours, but meet fees are higher.

Those don't cover meet leos, warm ups or meet fees.

Per hour it's less expensive than the rec classes. The more hours you get on team, the less you pay per hour. The rec program definitely subsidizes the team program.
 
Wow, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Gymnastics is waaaay to expensive in the USA!

Our pre-team train 5 hours per week and pay $65.70 (£42.50) per month and our squad pay $132.94 (£86) per month for 12 hours!

Anyway, that doesn't help you!

I would guess it depends on the gym. Is being on pre team the only way to get onto team? If so, then whether it is worth it or not depends on whether your dd wants a shot at being on team or not! I'd probably wait until you are sure she enjoys rec at first. She is only 5, she has plenty of time yet!
 
At my DD's gym, the track to team is through preteam. The girls on preteam are picked out of preschool classes and rec classes and they range in age from 4 to about 11. Preteam was well worth it for my daughter, she was 8 when she started preteam and she is 9 now and just started Level 4 team. I think that all the conditioning they did has helped her be more prepared going into L4. I do think it depends on the kid, my daughter would not have been ready for preteam at 5 but there were two 4-year olds in her preteam class who were completely ready for it. My daughter did preteam for a year, but I think most of the younger girls spend about 1-1/2 to 2 years on preteam depending on their age and readiness.

As for price, we paid $76/month for a one hour a week rec class, $180/month for 4 hours a week of preteam and now we pay $230/month for 9 hours a week for Level 4.
 

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